RCHC Community Project Abstracts

Back to subject search page or search by preceptor site Emergency Preparedness of Non-hospital Medical Offices in Astoria, OR Project Date: 12/31/2007 The problem studied is emergency preparedness of non-hospital medical offices in Astoria, OR. The population in question includes all the residents of Astoria. The methods used include in person interviews of physicians and office managers. The findings are that there were few offices that were prepared for a recent local disaster. This has however, brought to light the importance of a disaster plan for non-hospital facilities. The final product of this project is a plan of action for the education and collaborative disaster planning by local physicians' offices and the emergency preparedness/safety coordinator of Columbia Memorial Hospital. Forming an Emergency Operations Plan for Josephine County Project Date: 8/9/2004 The Josephine County Public Health Department, in conjunction with local physicians, emergency services personnel, infectious disease experts, and other interested parties, are currently working on an Emergency Response Plan in the event of natural disaster or acts of bioterrorism. This is in conjuction with Health Resources and Services Administration funding for Josephine and jackson Counties to create a Hospital and Healthcare System Bioterrorism Preparedness Program. This plan seeks to designate how resources in Josephine County will be used in the case of natural disaster such as fire, earthquake, or emerging infectious disease, or intentionally caused disasters such as Smallpox, chemical releases, or intentionally food-bourne illness. The geographical layout of Josephine County brings specific challenges to developing a plan for use of alternative care sites, Stategic National Stockpils resources, medical personnel, and transporation during an emergency that must be planned-out in advance to best coordinate the services necessary. Joesphine County has the unfortunate advantage of having a recent natural disaster, the Biscuit Fire of 2002, which has helped motivate Josephine County to work together on this plan, and has provided insight to its necessity. This project describes Josephine County and the Emergency Response Plan that has been developed by the Josephine County Public Health Department. Bioterrorism Response Plan For Grant County. Project Date: 9/ 24/2001 Since September 11th, 2001, the number one thing that seems to be on everyone's mind is terrorism. Based on the definition of terrorism, acts committed with the purpose of terrorizing a population, the terrorist who committed the atrocities in New York and Washington were successful. Since the attacks, America has been scrambling to develop ways to prevent and respond to future terrorist activities. Of highest interest is toxic terrorism, which is the use of nuclear, biological or chemical warfare to create terror. By their very nature, nuclear and chemical warfare results in illness minutes to hours after the attack in persons close to the location of weapon release. Because of this, the first responders would be firefighters, police and emergency rescue workers, who would cordon off the area, decontaminate patients, and administer antidotes. However, in the case of biological terrorism, the effects of the biological attack may not be known for days to weeks and in persons widely dispersed from the site of release. Affected persons would present with an undiagnosed illness to clinics or emergency departments. Physicians would then have to recognize that the patient is affected by an unusual illness and treat with vaccines and antibiotics, making primary care physicians the method of surveillance for an unknown biological terrorist attack. While attending the American Academy of Family Physician Annual Congress in October of this year (2001), I noticed that the physicians in attendance were keenly aware that they would need to be vigilant in monitoring for signs of a biological attack, and that they were unprepared. It was noted in a recent Family Practice News that American physicians are not trained to recognize the signs and symptoms of agents that are likely to be used in an attack. What training that is available is geared to police officers and firefighters. The other concern is that once a physician has identified a patient, who is possibly affected by a terrorist agent, what do they do next. With this in mind, I returned to John Day with the idea that I would develop a bioterrorist response plan for Grant County. Back to subject search page or search by preceptor site